Time to show the world that lessons have been learnt

Another lost toss resigned us to a long day in the field. The wickets in Pakistan largely blunt the fire and aggression of our fast bowlers, and they know it is patience and perseverance that will bring them wickets out here.

The captain has to be flexible enough not to rely on orthodox dismissals. Any batsman is just as liable to be caught in the covers as he is to be snared in the slip cordon, and for those of us in the field the challenge is about keeping concentration when nothing seems to be happening.

The time when a team really need all the catches to be taken is when chances don't come along too often, and these are the times when it is easiest as a fieldsman to drop them.

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One dropped chance probably didn't help our cause, but Pakistan played very well to reach the close at 300 for four. Shahid Afridi made a nonsense of the attritional conditions to reach his fifty. He seems have no fear of getting out, and so plays with a freedom few batsmen can afford. On his day he is unstoppable.

Monday

Having talked about the importance of catching all your chances, I promptly dropped a sitter this morning. It can be a painful game at times. Very good effort to restrict them to 462.

Inzamam-ul-Haq played the conditions incredibly well to score a century. He has the appearance, as he plods his way to the wicket, of a man who has to be forced out of bed in the morning, but this dopey exterior masks an incredibly organised mind and technique. On these wickets he gives the impression that he can hit any ball wherever he wants, but is also more than happy to play the percentage game.

We ended the day on 113 for three, still with much work to do to get near their first-innings total.

Tuesday

We showed our true batting colours for the first time on tour. Over the last couple of seasons at least two batsmen have stuck their hands up when we really needed them, and today was a welcome return to those ways.

Ian Bell, who has endured some difficult times recently, played a magnificent innings, full of patience and judicious shot selection, and Kevin Pietersen returned to form with a bang. He is too good a player to stay down for long, and this innings will have surely silenced those who prematurely doubted his methods.

We are back in the game at 391 for seven and may have the opportunity to put them under pressure tomorrow if we can get near their score.

Wednesday

Steve Harmison is one of the world's great sweepers. Andy Flower, of Zimbabwe and Essex, surely must be in the top bracket, as are Brian Lara and Matthew Hayden. None of them, though, has quite the guile and grace of Harmison at his best. I know his abilities well after setting a field that allowed him to sweep Durham to victory in a Totesport one-day match against Middlesex a couple of seasons ago, something that he has never allowed me to forget.

Today, however, he was magnificent. Danesh Kaneria, leg-spinner - fine sweep. Shahid Afridi, quicker ball - sweep for four. Kaneria googly - reverse sweep for four. It was like watching an exhibition. Time will tell how important his

47-run stand with Shaun Udal was in the context of the game, but it was fantastic to watch.

It was a monumental effort by the bowlers, especially Andrew Flintoff, to have them under pressure at 183 for six at the close. There is now a glimmer of hope that we can force a result tomorrow. Who would have thought that after day one?

Thursday

Arrived AT the ground full of hope and expectation. All we had to do was finish off the Pakistan tail, and make amends for last week's loss by chasing down a smallish total on the final day. The theory was simple, the practice very different.

Inzamam played superbly to shepherd the tail and register his second century of the match. His contribution put the game beyond reach and left us with the potentially difficult job of batting out for the draw for 60 overs.

At 20 for four things were not looking good, but an important partnership between Flintoff and Pietersen ate up precious time before Ashley Giles and Geraint Jones saw us through to the close.

The feeling in the dressing room at the end of the game was one of slight relief, but there was also a tinge of disappointment. We have competed exceptionally well with a Pakistan team full of motivation, with home advantage, but haven't been able to capitalise on good positions. Perhaps this will come right in the final Test.

Friday

An early start for me this morning, as I am making my way back to the UK for the birth of our first child. I feel incredibly excited at the prospect of becoming a father and although leaving a tour like this is a difficult decision to make, I have never felt at any stage that I have made the wrong one.

The tour to Pakistan has been very frustrating for me personally, and reflecting on what has gone on so far I would have to say that I haven't adapted quickly enough to the hugely different conditions out here.

In England a batsman looks to leave as much as possible early in his innings, here the low bounce forces you to play at the ball. In England the seaming wickets force a batsman to look for the short ball to score off, over here it is the full ball, and when you add to the mix the plethora of low, skiddy bowlers Pakistan have at their disposal, the adjustment gets harder. Test cricket is all about learning from mistakes quickly and with a one-day series ahead, and the tour to India in the new year, there should be plenty of opportunity for me to do exactly that.

In the meantime, though, there is a completely different type of delivery that I, and my wife, have to contend with; one that puts on-field highs and lows very much into perspective.